Some manufacturing processes may utilize fluids (e.g., sealants, adhesives, materials such as foams, and other fluids). Such manufacturing processes may require the fluids to cover a certain area or volume. In some existing manufacturing processes, the mass flow rate of such fluids may be measured while the fluid is applied to determine if the requisite area or volume has been covered. However, certain fluids are non-Newtonian and thus may be compressible and may have densities and/or viscosities that vary when subjected to shear forces. Accordingly, determining the area or volume of fluid dispensed via measuring the mass flow may be inaccurate.
For example, in some conventional techniques, a fluid may be weighed, and the amount of fluid matching a target weight may be dispensed. In other conventional techniques, a flow meter may be implemented with a fluid application device, where the flow meter determines the amount of fluid extruded and pre-determined data correlates the flow detected with a volume.
Moreover, existing volumetric flow rate measurement devices include flow meters that may be clogged and rendered inoperable by higher viscosity fluids. Additionally, such devices may not be adapted for smaller volumes (e.g., such as measuring volumes of fluids with masses of 1 oz. or less) and instead may be adapted for high volumes of fluids, such as the volumes seen in oil pipes. As such, current techniques for measuring the flow of viscous, non-Newtonian fluid involve measuring the mass flow of the fluid through the use of scales.